(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to deep wells and more particularly with the removing of sucker rod and pump elements from oil wells for maintenance purposes. A pulling rig operator is one having ordinary skill in this art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Most oil is produced today by reciprocating pumps which operate deep within the ground. Typically these wells include tubing within a casing. A pump is located on the bottom of the tubing. It is not unusual for these pumps to be located 10,000 feet below the surface of the earth. Normally, pump elements are attached to a sucker rod string which extends through the tubing to the bottom of the tubing. Normally, most of the working elements of the pump can be removed from the well by pulling the sucker rod inasmuch as working elements of the pump are attached to the sucker rod. Therefore the pump can be maintained or repaired by pulling the sucker rod with the pump elements attached to it.
As used herein, the term "pulling" includes not only the linear upward movement of a string (sucker rod or tubing) but also breaking the joints of the individual sucker rod elements from the string. The term "breaking the joint" basically means unscrewing the threaded joints connecting one portion of the string to another. Normally the sucker rods or tubing will be in lengths no greater than about 30 feet so that they can readily be removed from the well by pulling.
Usually the sucker rod and pump element may be removed from the well by upward, vertical tension upon the portion of the sucker rod extending above the ground. Normally this tension will pull the pump element attached to the sucker rod free of the portion of the pump that is attached to the tubing. Then, when a joint or two of the sucker rod is pulled above the top of the tubing, the sucker rod joint is broken by the use of a sucker rod tong which is normally a rather light unit which produces sufficient torque to break the sucker rod joints.
Tubing tongs are heavier tongs than sucker rod tongs or tubing tongs and produce more torque than that produced by sucker rod tongs. Tubing tongs are normally used to break tubing joints.
In certain instances the pump elements or portions of the sucker rod may be stuck within the well. The sticking occurs because of corrosion or other causes. Regardless of the cause, in certain cases, the pump element attached to the sucker rod cannot be freed from the pump portions attached to the tubing.
When this occurs, normally the sucker rod is broken at some joint below the surface of the earth or ground. This is accomplished by rotating the top of the sucker rod until some joint in the string between the top and the bottom unscrews. Hopefully this might be a joint deep within the well near the pump. In any event, to develop sufficient torque in the sucker rod to cause some joint to break or unscrew, it is often necessary to rotate the sucker rod as many as 200 revolutions. The sucker rod string will seldom break or unscrew with less than 60 or 70 revolutions.
Due to the resilience of the sucker rod material, as well as the certain amount of resilience in the tubing material, when a joint in the sucker rod string does come unscrewed, this is often a traumatic and violent occurrence. Energy has been stored into the down-hole strings and the release of this energy is a tremendous thing. In certain cases the grip or the element attached to the sucker rod above the top of the ground, will slip so that there is a release of energy at this time rather than the breaking of a joint down hole. In such instances, workmen are often injured, and equipment on the pulling rig is damaged.
Normally sucker rod tongs will not produce sufficient torque to break a joint down hole. Other workers in the field have sought to solve this problem.
Before this invention, others had patented related articles. For example, RUSSELL U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,171 discloses an adapter to use tubing tongs for rod tongs. However, RUSSELL is concerned with disconnecting above the surface of the earth as RUSSELL shows wrench 144 to hold one portion stationary as the second portion is rotated.
AUSTIN U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,103 discloses a vise operated by a vise bolt to clamp a sucker rod. AUSTIN discloses a hand-operated wheel for rotating the sucker rod. The AUSTIN device was designed to break the rod string at some point below the surface of the earth.
DIETZMANN discloses a sucker rod tool which holds the sucker rod by a vise which has a manual operation for rotating the sucker rod to break the rod string below the earth.